Managing Learner Behaviors - 2
Learner 1, in my past experiences, when I have felt overwhelmed, I usually take a mental break for a couple of hours to a full day and do the one thing I love to do. Once I have a clear mind, go back into the course and write down your assignments. put a date that you will complete the assignment. Remember you have 7 days to work with, not just the weekend. Space out things like reading and discussion post into the work week and maybe your assignments on Saturday morning. Seek a quiet time when the house is at its quietest. You will be sucessful, just take it one step at a time.
I would use this method to give the student a template to get organized. Once they are organized the fear of not getting it done whould minimized.
Carolyn,
Thank you for this information about how to work through providing support to students that are on the bubble of dropping the class or even leaving their program completely. They need to know there are people out there that can be of help to them.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Consider the following posts to the discussion:
Learner 1 post to Learner 2: "I feel that this course is very difficult, and I just don't get the concept. I am trying, but I can't see me passing and I am not good at failure."
Learner 1 post to Learner 3: "I wish that I had the ideas running through my head that you do. Great post."
Learner 1 post to Learner 4: "I read your post and I am afraid that I have gotten overwellmed. I am just hoping to get through this class. I came from another program and I am really feeling that I made a mistake. I hope not, I really want to complete this program. That is my dream for many years."
Based on the discussion posts of Learner 1 to other learners in the discussion forum, describe how you will handle this situation. What strategies will you use to support this learner?
I would contact this student to see first if I can help the student feel less overwellmed. I then would communicate with the student to find out where they feel they are having the most difficulty. Once this was established I would help the student with any difficulties they may have. For example if the student states they feel they don't understand the material I would have them come to my office hours to help them better understand or send them to extra resources. If they didn't understand how the classroom works I would go over how it operates again. The biggest thing I believe I would do would be to make sure the students feels less overwhellmed so they can learn the material and pass the class.
Robert,
Glad to be of assistance. I wish you continued teaching success.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
That really helps me. Thanks for sharing this Dr. It is greatly appreciated.
Monica,
These different forms of student support will encourage the student as well as provide resources for success. I would think that with a few early successes the student will start to realize that success can be theirs if they are willing to put forth the effort.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Learner 1 is obviously has low confidence and maybe low self-esteem. I would provide learner one with motivating and encouraging feedback to reduce his anxiety. I would probably email the student to address some of the students concerns; maybe the student is unable to navigate through the course to find the material needed to partake in the discussions. In addition to the technical issues the student probably just needs the additional support such as tutoring to help him better understand the coursework. I would even encourage the other students to provide peer support by creating study groups etc.
Clearly, this learner lacks confidence, and the background and knowledge entering this course may or may not actually be sufficient. Your first task is to get a better understanding of whether this student is actually prepared for this course. I would review the student's bio and send an email asking about their course background to ensure they have the proper courses prior to this course. I would then begin a dialog to learn more about the specific areas the student is lacking in knowledge and work with the student to provide additional information and skills such as new material on Web sites, tutoring services, or my own specific guidance in areas the student is struggling.
Kurt
Karen,
Very good. Start small and find out where the student is coming from. Then encourage them into success.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I would first e-mail this student to try and find out why they feel so overwhelmed with the course. Based on their answer, I would try to help them resolve those feelings by reminding them why they are working on this degree to begin with.
In the discussion board for this student I would specifically address this student and ask them to define the terms in the discussion or to tell me what they know about the subject. My goal would be to help them realize what they do understand about the topic. I would respond to their post with encouraging feedback and also give them prompts to help them answer the proposed discussion question.
I agree that positive reinforcement is powerful. A positive attitude exhibited by the instructor goes a long way to help shape students' learning and participation. I like to tell the students that employers say: "Send me someone with a positive attitude and we will teach them our business": A student with a positive attitude will more likely get a job and pass a course.
Gene Parker
francis,
Providing thbis support would be beneficial to most students. Thank you for sharing.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Learner one is obviously a littele intimidated by the course requiremnts. I would look a his or her work and see if it is up to standards. Once I did this I would send an email explaining that he is doing well and ask if he still feels over whelmed or if there is a part of the program he is not understanding.
Loriann,
Redirecting the students' thinking is a continuous task. Also, providing the additional resources is a good idea.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I would encourage learner 1 to not think in the negative. I would also provide myself and other resources for learner 1 to grasp the concept of the difficult subject matter. I would ask what difficulties have been encountered and continue to provide support through the course.
I would look at the communication between Learner 1 and Learner 3 and I would ask Learner 1 to speak about why they felt the thoughts in Learner 3 discussion were brilliant ideas. I would also support the positive ending to the communication. I would look at the post between learner number 1 and learner number 4 and really think that this student was possibly at risk of not passing the course. I would email them personally to see if I could support them and ask them about how they were feeling about the course.
James,
Good discussion. Well stated. Thank you both for your contributions.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Hello Nancy,
I agree with you. It allows you to show that you are human while still maintaining the authority of the position of instructor.
Thanks, Jim
Great post, the more support you give the better
